The exhibit features the work of 20 artists who were challenged to explore their creativity. It showcases their work from my book “Creative Grab Bag”. The book and exhibit include design, illustration, photography, painting, sculpture and more and was published in August 2009 by HOW Books.

Artists Talks
February 19th, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Koopman Commons, Hartford Art School

Troy Monroe is a graduate of the Hartford Art School, a designer at co:lab, the president of the Connecticut Art Director Club (CADC) and is currently working on a new initiative called Design is Love.

Randy J. Hunt earned an MFA in design from the School of Visual Arts, is the founder of the design studio Citizen Scholar, is a partner at Supercorp, makers of Supermarket, and can be found online here.

Opening Reception
February 19th, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Silpe Gallery, Hartford Art School

Exhibit
On display from February 19th through March 4th, 2010
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

About the Book
Creative Grab Bag is a collection of work from 100 artists, illustrators and designers from around the world. Author Ethan Bodnar asked each artist to take on a task outside the realm of their normal work. Each task was randomly selected from a grab bag. This exhibit showcases a piece of their normal work alongside their randomly chosen task. The artwork captures the spirit of exploration and innovation and challenge viewers to push the limits of their creativity.

Author and curator Ethan Bodnar attends the Hartford Art School as a sophomore where he studies graphic design. He most recently spoke on the main-stage about the future of design education at the AIGA National Design Conference. Ethan represents the Hartford Art School on the Student Government Association, currently runs the AIGA Student Group, and is the founder and editor of this blog.

Location
Silpe Gallery
Hartford Art School
University of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Ave
West Hartford, CT 06117

Campus map can be viewed here, parking in Lot K

Sponsored by object | resonance and Design is Love
With Support from AIGA Connecticut and Connecticut Art Directors Club

My most recent project, Synthesis, the blog of the Hartford Art School has officially been launched! Last year I had wanted to start a blog for the school but before I could initiate the project myself, they asked me if I would be interested in doing it. Over the summer I designed and developed the site using Cargo. Moving forward I am the editor and will be posting student work, inspiration, interviews, and news while covering all areas of art studied and practiced at the school.

It is school’s official online publication, an online community where we can communicate and share in new ways. Synthesis is here for everyone, including current students, professors, parents, alumni, prospective students, and the university community. It will allow the community to connect across different majors as well as with current and past members of the school. The blog provides a new structure for us to share news and insight into our community of artists.

Just wanted to invite you to a book signing for Creative Grab Bag at Barnes and Noble in Waterbury, Connecticut. It is on November 7th at 1:00 PM. The book is a collection of work from artists, illustrators, and designers from around the world and was published this summer.

Speaking and attending the AIGA National Design Conference was a remarkable experince. It was an honor to be there and speak for everyone, alongside Charles Harrison. Thank you to everyone who was there, who I met, and who made it all possible!

At some point there will be a video of the presentation put online, but until then there are several posts that have photos from the conference. In addition, here is the conclusion from my talk.

In closing, I have one final outlook for the future that I would like to share with you. That the design community, this remarkable design community will continue to be there. Speaking personally, you will continue to play a major role in the nurturing of my creativity, my ability to make and to think. You will continue to provide resources, inspiration, connections, knowledge, and representation.

Charles Harrison and those like him will continue to do what they do so well, to educate, inspire, and pass along their knowledge. To represent to others what the upcoming designers have to offer and in doing so pave the way. And that is what I am most grateful for, that we have had this organization for almost one hundred years, that I am part of it now, And for that future that our design community will create together, Thank you.

Above you can find some photos above taken by Wheat Würtzburger for the conference blog.

I will be speaking at the AIGA National Design Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. I am co-speaking with Charles Harrison, the lifetime achievement award winner several years ago from the Cooper Hewitt National Museum of Design. Here is the description of our talk.

Hartford Art School student Ethan Bodnar and industrial designer Charles Harrison will co-present their career and work—a student beginning in an age of blogs and InDesign, juxtaposed with a successful designer who began his career as a military cartographer in the 1950s. While focusing on the importance of a formal education, Harrison and Bodnar will share stories demonstrating how their education truly never ends. Expect an engaging and thoughtful look at the differences and similarities of these two uniquely successful designers.

We will be speaking on the mainstage, Saturday morning, with each of us talking for around ten to twelve minutes. I am very excited and honored to be speaking and look forward to seeing some of you there. You can follow me on Twitter for updates about the conference, and check out the official conference live blog.

It is the start of my second year at the Hartford Art School, part of the University of Hartford! I am looking forward to this year and in the first semester will be taking Typography, Sculpture, Photography, Math, and Art History. Thanks to everyone in advance for the remarkable coming year.

Very excited to announce that my first book, Creative Grab Bag, has officialy been published and is available now!

This is a book of visual creations from aritsts who have come together through the exploration of their creativity to form Creative Grab Bag. The book has been published by graphic design publishing industry leader F+W Media HOW Books in August, 2009 and is available for sale online and in major book retailers. Each artist was randomly assigned a creative task to complete and be featured in the book, the only rule, this task could not be from their normal field of work. The book also features a selected piece of work from their area of expertise. Each artist has a biography and an artist statement regarding their exploration of creativity through their creative task.

The book is available at the following locations!
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, HOW Books, Your Local Bookshops

The process of making this book was remarkable. I extend my thanks and gratitude to all the contributing artists, everyone at HOW Books, and friends and family. Making a book like this one is something special and has been a beautiful experience that has produced an insightful book made up of visual explorations.

The artists involved were selected from all over the world, are of all different ages, some are well known and some are upcoming artists, each specializing in different styles of work in a variety of mediums. The creative work comes in the form of architecture, art, graphic design, illustration, mixed media, packaging design, photography, product design, typography, and visual story telling. Readers will enjoy the varied styles that are offered in Creative Grab Bag.

A little more information about me, the author. I am a graphic designer in my sophomore year at the Hartford Art School. Creative Grab Bag is my first published book. I am currently involved in the AIGA and working on numerous other projects related to design. To read a full biography and to learn more, you can visit the About page.

Thank you to everyone who posted about the book online, it is very much appreciated. And thank you to everyone who was involved in the project, family and friends, everyone at HOW Books, and all of the artists!

Over this past summer I updated the Assignements section of the Portfolio to include all of my work from a full year at the Hartford Art School. The work consists of Foundation classes and a sampling is above.